Photo: Ashton B Crew · CC BY 3.0Cambridge’s library runs 110 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Cambridge Memorial Library serves Cambridge’s 1,760 residents. Last year it lent 3,220 print books and media and logged 4,636 visits.
The short version on Cambridge’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 82% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 54% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Cambridge Memorial Library serves 1,760 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Cambridge’s civic life grade
Cambridge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cambridge Memorial Library serves 1,760 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,220 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 6,662 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Cambridge last year.
Find it
Cambridge Memorial Library, 225 Water St., Cambridge.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cambridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $68K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 578 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Cambridge
Does Cambridge have a public library?
Yes. Cambridge Memorial Library, 225 Water St., serves Cambridge’s 1,760 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cambridge Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cambridge’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cambridge’s civic life grade?
Cambridge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Cambridge.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.